Reference soil Colombia 02: Ferralsol

CO002

Ferralsols occur in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, mainly on old and stable land surfaces.

Characteristics

Soils having a ferralic horizon (strongly weathered horizon with low-activity clays and very low amounts of weatherable minerals) between 25 and 200 cm from the soil surface. They lack a nitic horizon (a horizon with strongly developed, nut-shaped structure) and do not have a layer which fulfils the requirements of an argic horizon and which has, in the upper 30 cm, 10 percent or more water-dispersible clay.

Distribution of Ferralsols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil CO002: Ferralsols

LOCATION: 300m West in a meadow PHYSIOGRAPHY: Local relief: 0 - 20cm. ADDITIONAL NOTES ON PROFILE DESCRIPTION: Bw1 - krotovinas: small (diameter 5cm); Bw2 - few fecal pellets; Bws - few fine soft lithorelicts; few fine faint (7.5YR 6/8) mottles; BC - by auger; common soft lithorelicts of various colours.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Geric- Ferralsol (Humic Alumic Clayic)

Alumi-Geric- Ferralsol

34-250 cm	ferralic horizon
-	geric

0-32 cm	ochric horizon
32-250 cm	ferralic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Alumi-Ferralic Cambisol

Orthic Ferralsol

0-32 cm	ochric A horizon
32-250 cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	cambic B horizon
-	ferralic

0-32 cm	ochric A horizon
32-250 cm	oxic B horizon

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Dystropept ustic clayey kaolinitic isohyperthermic

Physical characteristics

Particle size distribution

Depth (cm)	Gravel % v/v	very coarse sand % w/w	coarse sand % w/w	medium sand % w/w	fine sand % w/w	very fine sand % w/w	Total sand % w/w	coarse silt % w/w	fine silt % w/w	Total silt % w/w	Clay % w/w
0-12	-	0.1	1.3	6.2	6.7	3.3	17.6	16.8	11.0	27.8	54.5
12-32	-	0.1	1.1	5.3	5.8	3.4	15.7	14.4	10.8	25.2	59.2
32-61	-	0.1	1.2	4.9	5.0	3.0	14.2	13.6	10.4	24.0	61.8
61-100	-	0.1	1.1	4.4	5.7	3.8	15.1	15.3	9.9	25.2	59.8
100-170	-	0.1	0.9	4.2	5.0	3.2	13.4	13.3	10.0	23.3	63.4
170-250	-	0.1	0.5	4.2	5.0	3.1	12.9	11.7	7.8	19.5	67.6

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-12	-	-	-	26.5	54.5
12-32	-	-	-	28.4	59.2
32-61	-	-	-	3.0	61.8
61-100	-	58	-	0.0	59.8
100-170	-	-	-	0.5	63.4
170-250	-	60	-	1.0	67.6

Chemical data

Depth (cm)	pH H2O	pHKCl	EC 1: 2.5 dS/m	CaCO3 % w/w	C % w/w	N %	C / N	Exch. Acid cmol(c)/kg	Exch. Al cmol(c)/kg	Ca cmol(c)/kg	Mg cmol(c)/kg	K cmol(c)/kg	Na cmol(c)/kg	Sum Cations cmol(c)/kg
0-12	4.7	3.9	0.05	-	2.57	0.14	18	3.1	2.9	0.4	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.8
12-32	4.6	4.0	0.08	-	1.63	0.09	18	2.5	2.3	0.4	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.6
32-61	4.8	4.1	0.04	-	0.90	0.06	15	1.7	1.5	0.4	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.8
61-100	4.8	4.2	0.09	-	0.59	0.04	15	1.1	0.9	0.4	0.1	0.1	0.4	1.0
100-170	4.8	4.4	0.09	-	0.47	-	-	0.3	0.1	0.4	0.1	0.1	0.5	1.1
170-250	5.2	4.4	0.02	-	0.06	-	-	0.3	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.5	0.7

Depth (cm)	Base sat. %	CEC soil cmol(c)/kg	CEC clay cmol(c)/kg	CEC org cmol(c)/kg	ECEC cmol(c)/kg	Al sat. %	ESP %
0-12	8	9.5	17	9.0	-	31	2
12-32	9	6.8	11	5.7	-	34	0
32-61	17	4.7	8	3.2	-	32	4
61-100	33	3.0	5	2.1	-	30	13
100-170	55	2.0	3.0	1.6	-	5	25
170-250	24	2.9	4	0.2	-	3	17

Depth (cm)	pH NaF	P Retention %	ODOE	Al o % w/w	Si o % w/w	Fe d % w/w	Al d % w/w	Fe p % w/w	Al p % w/w	C p % w/w	Fe o % w/w
0-12	-	-	-	0.25	0.01	2.38	0.71	0.39	0.43	-	0.16
12-32	-	-	-	0.24	0.01	2.80	0.81	0.46	0.42	-	0.14
32-61	-	-	-	0.22	0.01	2.99	0.75	0.46	0.27	-	0.09
61-100	-	-	-	0.20	0.01	2.78	0.72	0.12	0.17	-	0.07
100-170	-	-	-	0.18	0.03	2.69	0.73	0.03	0.10	-	0.05
170-250	-	-	-	0.16	0.04	3.16	0.66	0.01	0.11	-	0.04

Elemental composition of the clay

Depth (cm)	SiO2 % w/w	Al2O3 % w/w	Fe2O3 % w/w	CaO % w/w	MgO % w/w	K2O % w/w	Na2O % w/w	TiO2 % w/w
61-100	37.4	36.1	11.1	0.02	0.11	0.19	-	1.44
170-250	37.2	36.2	11.2	0.02	0.12	0.20	-	1.44

Depth (cm)	MnO2 % w/w	P2O5 % w/w	Ign.Loss clay % w/w	Total Clay % w/w	SiO2/Al2O3 mol/mol	SiO2/Fe2O3 mol/mol	SiO2 / R mol/mol	Al2O3/Fe2O3 mol/mol
61-100	0.01	0.08	13.7	100.9	1.8	9.0	1.5	5.1
170-250	0.01	0.09	14.0	100.5	1.7	8.8	1.5	5.1

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-12	-	very weak	-	weak	-	-	very strong	-	weak	-	-	-
12-32	-	very weak	-	weak	-	-	very strong	-	weak	-	-	-
32-61	-	very weak	-	weak	-	-	very strong	-	weak	-	-	-
61-100	-	very weak	-	weak	-	-	very strong	-	weak	-	-	-
100-170	-	very weak	-	weak	-	-	very strong	-	weak	-	-	-
170-250	-	very weak	-	weak	-	-	very strong	-	weak	-	-	-

Sand mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Heavy Frac. sand % w/w	K-Feldspar % w/w	Light Fra. sand % w/w	Opaque % w/w	Plagioclase % w/w	Quartz % w/w
100-170	0.1	-	99.9	60	-	100

Rare clay minerals

Depth (cm)	Amphibole	Augite	Calcite	Lepidococrite	Pyrophillite	Pyroxene	Weddelite
0-12	-	-	-	-	very weak	-	-
12-32	-	-	-	-	very weak	-	-
32-61	-	-	-	-	very weak	-	-
61-100	-	-	-	-	very weak	-	-
100-170	-	-	-	-	very weak	-	-
170-250	-	-	-	-	very weak	-	-

Profile description

Ap 0-12 cm	dark brown (7.5YR 3/4, moist)clay,weak fine and medium subangular blocky,slightly hard friable slightly sticky plastic,common fine pores,gradual smooth boundary to,
12-32 cm	(dark) brown (7.5YR 4/4, moist)clay,weak fine and medium subangular blocky,hard friable slightly sticky plastic,common fine pores,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bt1 32-61 cm	yellowish red (5YR 4/6, moist)clay,weak to moderate fine angular blocky,hard friable slightly sticky plastic,patchy thin clay cutans,common fine pores,few krotovinas,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bt2 61-100 cm	yellowish red (5YR 5/8, moist)clay,weak fine angular blocky,hard friable slightly sticky plastic,patchy thin clay cutans,common fine pores,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bo 100-170 cm	yellowish red (5YR 5/8, moist)clay,weak fine angular blocky to subangular blocky,hard friable slightly sticky plastic,few fine faint mottles (7.5 YR 6/8),diffuse smooth boundary to,
170-250 cm	red (2.5YR 4/6, moist)clay,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	sedimentary rock
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	unconsolidated, unspecified
Remarks on Parent Materials	Plio-Pleistocene
Texture of parent material	clayey
Weathering Resistance	moderate
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	partially or moderately

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	semi-natural grassland, grazed
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: 100% covered by various grasses LANDUSE:

Altitude	225m
Physiographic Unit	terrace surface
Physiographic position of the site	flat
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	plain
Slope	2%
Slope Aspect	east
Form of the slope surrounding the site	straight
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	flat or almost flat

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	0-250cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	moderate
Estimated run off (class)	slow

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
Microrelief Height: variation in height	20
Evidence of salt; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-saline

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Reference soil Colombia 02: Ferralsol

Characteristics

Reference soil CO002: Ferralsols

Classification